Speculations of the Soul
by Pastel Price
Summary: How many lives are you willing to give up for the sake of one person you cherish the most?
1. Broken Reunion

**Hello minna! This is my 3rd installment on my Ulgui-Hime fictions. Still working on this one though. Compared to my previous works, Delusions of the Mind and Memoirs of the Heart; this fiction is longer and I improved my style of writing. Happy reading and don't forget to review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Broken Reunion**

"...And for the past few years, man has been in the century of inventions and progress, in economy, in..." the teacher's words were nothing but 'Blah Blah Blah' to Orihime who was obviously struggling to keep her eyes wide open during the class. Her grey eyes scanned across the classroom and she saw exact evidence of boredom, even for her friends. Ichigo and Chad were clearly sleeping, Rukia's mind drifted off to somewhere, Uryu seemed to be scribbling across his notes and Tatsuki was also sleeping, right infront of the teacher. Orihime sighed and brushed strands of her auburn locks that fell on her face. "Just five more minutes..." she whispered to herself, scolding her sleepy eyes to stay awake. They were already giving up from the fight until...

'RIIINNGG!'

The auburn-haired girl shot up as her classmates immidiately stormed out of the room. Orihime stood up as well and began packing her notebook inside her bag. "Inoue-san." Ichigo tapped her shoulder. "Uh... Kurosaki-kun, what is it?" Orihime replied as she covered the yawn she emitted.

"We'll be going off tomorrow to Soul Society, you know what I mean Inoue-san." Ichigo's cheery atmosphere seemed to have dissolved upon relaying the information to Orihime. "Can I go with you, Kurosaki-kun?" she replied as her eyes shifted to somewhere else to prevent eye contact with the shinigami.

"Are you sure you wanna go?" Ichigo asked and Orihime simply nodded to reply. "Fine. See you tomorrow, Inoue-san." was all he said before slowly leaving the classroom. Now everything was quiet inside, no boring teacher and no noisy classmates, Orihime had all the silence she could get. She clutched her bag tightly and bit her lip to prevent herself from crying. Another life was going to be forever exiled tomorrow, too much for her to handle. She tried to hold back her tears but as his name rolled across her mouth, tears were like soldiers that marched across her cheeks. "Ulquiorra."

It had already been two months since the defeat of Aizen and the Espadas were wiped out of existence, except for the fourth espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, whom Orihime had desperately resurrected when he was finished off by Ichigo. Upon his return to life, the Captain Yamamoto disproved of the choice Orihime made. The Gotei 13 decided that Ulquiorra is still an arrancar made by Aizen and should be exiled, thus Ulquiorra was detained by the harsh laws of Soul Society. Yes, tomorrow was his farewell and much to Orihime's desire to save him, she could do nothing against Soul Society. Orihime walked home all by herself, reflecting every moment she had with Ulquiorra before. It wasn't because she has a mutual attachment to him or something but she hated the fact that another life would be bidding her farewell. Her mind calls for Ulquiorra, and Ulquiorra alone. When she reached a fork in the road, one leading to her apartment and the other leading to somewhere she was particular with, she shook her head for a while. Taking a deep breath, she had her feet drag herself to Urahara's shop.

"Open you a garganta to Soul Society right now?" the blonde man scratched the back of his head and sheepishly looked at Orihime.

"Urahara-san, I need to see someone... please." Orihime's sweet voice was full of gloom and longing and Urahara is obviously aware who she was referring to.

"Okay Orihime-chan, but I can't let you go there alone, will it be okay if Yoruichi goes with you?"

"It's okay, Urahara-san, thank you."

"Well then, follow me. Yoruichi will be following us in a while." Urahara led Orihime to his underground latch and as soon as Yoruichi came to the picture, the garganta was ready. Orihime took the first step inside before Yoruichi followed her inside the garganta as well. "This is interesting." Urahara grinned at himself before closing the garganta.

* * *

"I want to see Ulquiorra Schiffer." Orihime told the person on-charge on the jail cells.

"Ah, the arrancar to be exiled tomorrow, am I correct?" the man asked.

Orihime shrugged off and seemed offended by his question. "Yes."

"Hm... purpose of visit?"

"To talk to him about something before..." she gave a momentary pause before saying; "he is exiled."

"Hm. Very well, follow me." the man took some keys from a rack before heading off. Orihime looked at Yoruichi who was perking up her long violet hair. "You go ahead Orihime, I'll wait for you here." the tanned woman assured her. Orihime gave her a soft smile before following the jail warden.

The man led her through large doors which emitted powerful spiritual pressures and from what she was seeing, many are detained in that prison. Some were merely hollows, some were human-like in form and she did not know what they were. They approached a huge cell which was enclosed by two huge mahogany doors, unlike the other cells who were simply enclosed by bars. "Well, miss Inoue, here we are. You can privately talk to him and do not worry about your security, his reiatsu is completely sealed. I'll be at the counter if you need any assistance." and with that, the warden walked away. Orihime stood infront oddly huge doors which separated her from what she truly wanted to see. Holding the cold brass handles, she pushed one door open to reveal the man her heart called for in two months of longing.

He sat in one of the beautifully-adorned wooden chair in the middle of a seemingly large room. He was in his second release and his black wings were elegantly folded to his sides and his head bowed down. Orihime slowly closed the door beind her and approached Ulquiorra. No, she was not afraid that he might grab her and choke her to death. She was not afraid of his talon claws, she was not afraid of his horns, his eyes, his wings, and she was not afraid that she might not get out of his cell alive. "Ulquiorra." she called out to him when she was just two feet away from him. Ulquiorra raised his head to have his golden orbs meet her grey ones.

"Woman, why are you here?" he asked coldly.

"Because I need to save you, Ulquiorra."

"You have saved me once, is that not enough damage you inflicted upon me, woman?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"You should have let me rest, woman."

"I'm sorry, but the fact that I... can't let anyone go..."

"I do not require such explanations. I shall be executed tomorrow, not even your powers can reject that."

Ulquiorra stood up and turned his back on Orihime who was clearly starting to cry. Ulquiorra shot his wings open and Orihime was astounded that his wings could be spread as wide as that. The arrancar walked across the room with his long tail billowing behind him, sweeping side to side as he approached a window barricaded by thick steel bars. "However..." Ulquiorra took hold on the window bars and grasped them slightly. "I can reject my death." He bent the bars and snapped them easily like a toothpick breaking. Orihime was a bit shocked as Ulquiorra looked at her. "I-I thought your reiatsu was sealed?" Orihime shakingly asked. "Everyone does. I am not a mere hollow nor a mere arrancar, my intellects are far beyond what you do know." and with his words, Ulquiorra powerfully flapped his wings and left the cell, escaping the clutches of Soul Society through a garganta he opened. "Ulquiorra!" Orihime tried to follow him but he was gone in a matter of five seconds. It was when guards came crashing into the room, Orihime turned around and saw Captain Yamamoto with Captain Ukitake surveying the crime scene. Yamamoto looked at Orihime for a while. "We have to talk."

"And what did he say to you?"

"Uhm... he told me that he'd reject his death."

"Did he tell you where he'd go?"

"No."  
"Hm, this is a serious case of jail break. I shall send you back to your home Orihime, we'll take things from here."

"Uhm, Captain Yamamoto, I think he is harmless, please, if you find him; don't hurt him."

"I see your compassion with the arrancar, Orihime, but he is still an instrument of Hueco Mundo against us. I shall have someone inform you if we find him."

"Thank you." Orihime bowed her head and approached Yoruichi who was just waiting for her outside. "So, how did it go?" Yoruichi asked.

"Uh... well, Ulquiorra broke out of jail and I don't know where he is."

"What did you tell him anyway?" Yoruichi raised her eyebrow and seemed to tease Orihime.

"I told him that I wanted to save him from his execution."

"Hm... I see the reason for you to save him would be deep enough." Yoruichi sighed and a garganta opened before the pair. "C'mon Orihime, time to bring you back home." she smiled at Orihime before taking her hand and submerging theirselves into the blackness of the garganta back into the human world. When they reached Orihime's apartment, the auburn-haired girl bowed her head and thanked Yoruichi for accompanying her to Soul Society. "Yoruichi-san, where do you think he headed off to?" Orihime asked.

"I'm pretty sure he'd be around, Orihime. Hueco Mundo is obviously closed off." Yoruichi replied with a smile as she bade Orihime goodbye and went back to Kisuke's shop. When everything was quiet, Orihime looked up to the cool seven o'clock night sky and sighed; "Where are you, Ulquiorra?"


	2. Unexpected Return

**Chapter 2 - Unexpected Return**

"Hm, seemingly, I truly doubt to myself that you are father and son, however, these papers from the Karakura council really prove that you are. I guess that leaves me no choice but to set these doubts aside, Mr. Schiffer." the school principal gestured happily and placed some important papers inside his drawer.

"I am truly glad to here that. So when can Ulqui- I mean my son start schooling?" Urahara fanned himself as he covered a grin from his mouth. He was Ulquiorra's 'father' right now and he really did a great job in faking those Human Resource papers from the Karakura council and Ulquiorra's birth certificate.

"He can start sitting in for class today, actually. It'll be easier for him to get along with the others when he starts to formally attend class by tomorrow." the principal smiled.

"Ah... I see. Well Ulqui-kun, be a good boy okay? I have some business to attend to today." and with that, Ulquiorra received a ratherly strong slap in the back by Urahara as the blonde man immidiately left the office, without even bowing to the principal. Ulquiorra shot the leaving figure a harmless yet annoyed look for calling him "Ulqui-kun", he hated that. Soon, his attention was returned to the principal who was giving him odd stares from head to toe. "You say where you are from, lad?" he asked.

"Las Noches, sire."

"Las-what?"

"Uh, sorry, it's Lasquire... just a small village in northern Tibet."

"I see. That explains why you are unusually pale, my lad." the principal pointed out as he stood from his chair. "You will really need someone to help you around and make it easier for you to adapt the school's atmosphere."

"I do not require such escorts, sire." Ulquiorra replied.

"Don't worry, Ulquiorra, I have someone in mind who wouldn't mind showing you around."

Ulquiorra stared at the principal who was looking outside the window. He sighed out. "Who?"

* * *

"O-ri-hi-me!" Tatsuki's loud voice came stumbling upon the green fields of Karakura High, in which students leisured themselves as they ate their lunch on the ground. Orihime was with Uryu that time, enjoying the bento that Rukia gave them today.

"Uh, Tatsuki-chan! Chow!" Orihime smiled at her short-haired friend, signalling her to join them for lunch.

"Orihime, sorry for disturbing you. But Mr. Principal wants to see you right now, ASAP!" Tatsuki inhaled some air to regain her breathing, she was tired after all from running around to call Orihime.

"What does he want?" Orihime asked.

"Beats me, but I bet its SANGAS." Tatsuki smiled.

"Oh..." Orihime giggled.

She swiftly stood up, neatly packing her bento and handing it over to Ishida. "I'll be back, Ishida-kun!" Orihime waved back before walking towards the campus.

"Ah, that's the fifth time this month she's been called." Tatsuki sighed. Uryu was confused by which SANGAS meant and he tapped Tatsuki's broad shoulder to satisfy his curiousity.

"What is SANGAS?"

Tatsuki looked at Uryu and pointed out intelligently; "Show A New Guy Around School."

* * *

The grey-eyed female scrambled and skipped acroos the hallways, heading to good ol' principal's office for her task. "A new guy, eh?" she smirked at herself for having a good reputation in being a great tour guide for newbies. Everyone have to agree that Orihime is good at her job, obviously her sunny smiles would paint anyone's faces with a gleeful remark, well maybe, except for today's surprise. Her heart skipped with happiness knowing that there's someone new in school and it was then that she saw her beloved Kurosaki-kun busy placing some books in his locker.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! You done with your lunch?" Orihime spared some time to greet the shinigami.

"Yup. Rukia is getting better with her bentos. Uh, Inoue-san, you seemed to be very happy." Ichigo noted.

"Well, operation SANGAS is on the roll, as a matter of fact, I'm on my way to the principal's office." she smiled.

"I'll go with you then. Wouldn't miss a chance to welcome a new guy around." Ichigo replied. Orihime gave him one of her very sweet smiles then tugged his arm, both heading towards the principal's office. Ichigo noticed how excited Orihime was with how she differently smiled today. Remembering that she had gone to Soul Society yesterday, he let his curiousity get the best of him. "Inoue-san, you seemed to be a lot happier today. How did your trip to Soul Society go?"

"Well, Yoruichi-san accompanied me."

"And?"

"And I had my first time walking inside the prisons."

"Y-You went inside the prison?"

"Uh, yes."

"So what happened?"

"Uhm... Ulquiorra-san escaped."

"WHAT?!" Ichigo stopped walking and pulled Orihime's arm to halt her walking as well. "He escaped?!"

Orihime scratched the back of her head and felt guilty for not telling Ichigo what happened. She sighed and looked at his frustrated face. "He broke out of prison... but don't worry! Captain Commander told me he'd take care of it, and anyway, Ulquiorra-san won't bring such havoc, Hueco Mundo is well-guarded, right?" Orihime tried to calm Ichigo down.

"I just hope he'd surrender peacefully, Inoue-san." Ichigo patted Orihime's shoulder before pacing the hallways to head the principal's office. When they reached the office door, Orihime saw two figures chatting inside. The stubby and short one is obviously their jolly principal and the other one was tall, and lean. "Obviously, it's a guy." Ichigo whispered to Orihime and smiled before knocking at the door.

"Ah, Mr. Schiffer, that must be your school escort for today." the principal pointed out. Ulquiorra stood from the couch and straightened his school uniform, which was of course provided by Urahara in which he does not know where the creepy man got it. "Well, Mr. Schiffer, I wish you good luck in your schooling." the principal gave him an assuring smile and headed straight to open the door.

Ulquiorra got curious why humans are so addicted to smiling. Back then in Las Noches, his fellow espadas will only smile when they had this cunning plan or seductive motives with each other. Ulquiorra sighed and followed the short principal to open the door. The knob was turned, the door flung open, the breathing stopped and eyes grew wide. Orihime was speechless, the principal was confused and Ichigo was surprised, in which two words only escaped from the shinigami's mouth;

"What the-"

* * *

**(Ulquiorra's POV)**

Kami, the man whom they referred to as 'principal' was indeed mouthful of words. He would talk about how great his 'school' was, maybe this 'school' he refers to is similar to an empire, or an army perhaps yet I do not see any strength in his army. His army is nothing but a collection of talkative trash who does nothing but carry each other's burdens.

I am sick of this play that Urahara wrote. I came to his shop last night, asking for a secluded place to hide, he offered me a secret latch under his shop, aside from the latch that served as a passage that served as a training ground for those worthless shinigamis who cleared the other espadas and Aizen-sama out of existence. Urahara told me that I cannot live under his shop forever, hiding from the Gotei 13 that seek to kill me. How pathetic it was, and to add more of this shame I carry from seeking refuge from this odd man is that he asked me to become a human.

Trash. Trash. Trash. Nothing but trash.

Now I see myself being treated as another human in this pathetic school to pathetically study these pathetic informations that I do not need. Urahara gave me a gigai, as he called it Ulqui-kun. Ulqui-kun? Now I am being treated like a pet or something. I seemed to have lost my teal tearmarks, my arrancar remains and my hollow hole. He also gave this bangle in which I cannot seem to use my cero, or I can barely feel my reiatsu.

Kami, I am human in this state and the principal would not stop flooding my mind with trash informations. I'd really have him tied and gagged up and impale my hand through his mouth to make him stop. It's getting so annoying and thankfully enough, a knock on his door made him stop talking. He asked someone to escort me or accompany me around the school, however, when two figures appeared infront of the principal's door, I sensed two different spiritual pressures that seemed to have lingered in my memory. One was strong, my eyes grew a fraction-wide upon knowing that the spiritual pressure belonged to no one else but that damn shinigami. Ichigo Kurosaki. The other one was weak, unnoticeable actually but it surprised me more than the prescence of the shinigami's reiatsu.

I managed to have myself stand from the couch I was sitting on for almost an hour already. There is something inside me that pulled me to approach the door to take notice of that familiar spiritual pressure, then there it was, the door was swiftly opened by the principal, only to have the owner of that spiritual pressure revealed right infront of me. Then there she was.

"Woman."

* * *

"What the-" Ichigo could barely speak upon seeing the arrancar dressed in human clothes. Orihime was indeed speechless as well. Ulquiorra seemed to be surprised as well, looking at his eyes that were wider than usual. The principal was confused on why Ichigo and Orihime were both shocked.

"Kurosaki, Inoue, this is Mr. Schiffer, Ulquiorra Schiffer."

Ichigo was still speechless and Orihime was still trying to process the current situation but Ulquiorra managed to regain his composure and bowed his head to the pair.

"I am glad to meet you, Kurosaki and wo-Inoue."

Ichigo slapped his face to make sure he wasnt dreaming. Orihime erased her confused facial expression and immidiately replaced it with her sunny smile.

"Welcome to Karakura High, Ulquiorra-san." she bowed her head as well and extended her hand to Ulquiorra, inviting him to shake hands.

Ulquiorra never saw this comming. Urahara never mentioned that he was going to the same school where the shinigami went. He just noticed that the school uniforms the girls wore were the same with Orihime's but he assumed every student in Karakura wore the same outfit. Ulquiorra looked at Orihime for a while before extending his hand to meet hers. Orihime blushed. She never got the chance to hold Ulquiorra's hand in all of the time she stayed in Las Noches.

"I'll be your company for the next 5 hours of class hours, Ulquiorra-san. I'll show you around the school and help you meet new... er-friends." Orihime really never want to put the words 'friends', 'heart' or 'love' when she's talking to Ulquiorra, knowing that he never wanted to use those words either.

"Ms. Inoue, you may now proceed with Mr. Schiffer, I hope you two have a nice time." the principal told them.

"Wait!" Ichigo butted in. "I don't think I wanna let Inoue alone with him." Ichigo pointed out.

"Such a disrespectful action, Mr. Kurosaki! Orihime Inoue is the best tour guide here." the principal scolded.

"Don't worry Kurosaki-kun. I'll be fine." and with that, Orihime started walking away with Ulquiorra, leaving Ichigo very frustrated.

* * *

"Ulquiorra-san?" Orihime asked Ulquiorra, who was busy looking at his surroundings.

"What is it, woman?" he replied. Noticing that everyone was giving them odd and curious stares.

"I was wondering on why you decided to go here." Orihime looked at him, curiousity washed her in face.

"I did not decide this, woman. Urahara did."

"Urahara-san? What's up with him and you?"

"I do not know."

"Mind telling me how you feel right now?" she asked.

"I have told you this woman, I do not feel any human emotions."

"But-" Orihime was cut off when the bell rang and everyone was rushing on their respective classrooms.

"Woman, you have class to attend to. I shouldn't be obstructing your scheduled routine."

"Oh, don't worry, Ulquiorra-san. I'm on a special task. I'm excused from my classes."

"Special task you say, woman?"

Orihime nodded and smiled at Ulquiorra. "Whenever there's someone new here, I get the opportunity to show them around. And well, I'm the one assigned to do the same for you, Ulquiorra-san."

"I see." he looked at the window beside him and saw that the green grounds of Karakura were empty.

"Ulquiorra-san, the principal gave you a paper containing your class schedule, didn't he?" Orihime pointed to the paper that was sticking out of Ulquiorra's bag. He slipped it from the zipper and handed it to Orihime.

"Uhm, according to this you'd be coming to the same class that I do." she smiled and returned the paper to Ulquiorra who neatly placed it back into his bag before looking at Orihime seriously.

"I-Is there something wrong, Ulquiorra-san?" Orihime blinked and in a flash of a second, she was pinned to the wall with Ulquiorra's gentle grasp locking her shoulders to the concrete wall.

"Woman, I wish to start a new life, you do not know me and I do not know you. Let me live in peace, woman. I am not Ulquiorra Schiffer whom you knew in Las Noches nor the Ulquiorra whom you resurrected from the dead." Ulquiorra's green orbs pierced her grey once as Orihime's head was filled with confusion and Ulquiorra released her from his grasp as he walked away into the corridor opposite to where she was about to go.


	3. Interruption of the Scarlet Sea

**Chapter 3 - Interruption of the Scarlet Sea**

**(Orihimes POV)**

When Ulquiorra left me in that corridor, I really don't know what to do. Everything happened too soon and I barely felt his reiatsu when he came. Why did he even tried to attend school? Shouldn't he be hiding from Soul Society? Argh. This is too much and now, he left me in the vast of nowhere, not knowing how to act when he told me he wanted to start a new life.

So, days passed and I can't help but to just stare at him indifferently like the way I look at my other classmates but something inside me tells me that I shouldn't let myself continue to act like he is one of us. He's an arrancar wearing a gigai, hiding his true self. When Uryu and the others question me about Ulquiorra, I simply smile at them and tell them that they're mistaken for telling that the new guy is still the fourth espada. The reason I defend against them is that he possess no powerful spiritual pressure unlike the Ulquiorra in Las Noches. Tell them it's different now Orihime.

Tell them.

Most of the time, I see Ulquiorra all by himself, either reading a book or twirking his newfound device, the celphone. I'd giggle to myself internally when my imagination assumes what he was doing with his black mobile phone. During class, he eagerly writes on his notebook, but I'm sure it's nothing connected to the lessons. He knows those lessons already. During class exams, he'd get the highest grade and the girls would start asking for his phone number but as always, he'd stay cold towards them.

It seems that Ulquiorra lived an utterly normal life for the past 2 months in his stay in Karakura High and to take note, we never talked. Soul Society knew of this and they decided to let him stay this way, it's for the better and I have to agree. Kurosaki-kun and the others stopped spying on him and decided that he's no threat so we managed to live normally.

One day, a girl named Kamillah Hische came rolling at school. She was the newest student in Karakura High. She's fairly odd though, possessing a very scarlet red hair and violet eyes, she already caught every boy's attention. To my dismay, she also caught Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun's attention but that was not what disturbed me though, it was the unusual spiritual pressure she possessed. Even Kuchiki-san and Kurosaki-kun could not determine how strong it was or how weak it was, if it belonged to hollow or a shinigami. Kamillah was cheerful and outgoing and it surprised me when Ulquiorra-san found himself a companion. They'd sit together during lunch, Kamillah telling Ulquiorra some stories and Ulquiorra never spoke yet it was obvious he gave her his full attention.

* * *

Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Orihime and Uryu sat in a quiet place behind the school building. Ichigo flipped his mobile phone and dialled Urahara-san's number.

"Urahara-san. It's me, Ichigo." Ichigo was holding his phone, calling Urahara in a loud speaker mode.

"Ah- Ichigo, how pleasant to receive a call from you. So what business do you have?"

"Its this, Urahara-san, we seemed to be feeling one weird spiritual pressure around here in Karakura High."

"I'll be right there." Urahara hung up.

"What?!" before Ichigo could utter another word, Urahara was already standing infront of them.  
"Don't do that! What if someone saw you!" Ichigo ranted. Everyone agreed.

"The spiritual pressure is tickilish, don't you agree?" Urahara noted.

"What do you mean?" Rukia answered back.

"A Menos." Urahara told them. "An arrancar is here."

"Wait, do you mean Ulquiorra?" Orihime told him.

"No, I sealed off Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure, he is incapable of releasing any reiatsu actually."

"So you mean, there is a hollow at loose?" Uryu asked.

"I believe so, Ishida-san. And from where I am feeling it, it's comming from over..." Urahara turned around to pick up the strong waves of reiatsu from the area. Everyone was eager to know whre it came from and then a particular scarlet blaze of locks came rushing infront of them, twenty meters away.

"There!" Urahara loudly pointed to the new girl's direction.

"K-Kamillah-chan?!" Orihime and Rukia gasped.

"I'm afraid so, ladies." Urahara answered and looked back at them. "My job's done here, it's time to do yours." and with that. Urahara left instantly the way he appeared infront of them.

Kamillah looked at the group's direction and waved at them with a sweet smile of her own. Orihime just waved back to ensure they dont get caught off guard by this newfound arrancar in Karakura High.

"Maybe that's the reason why she seemed to be close to Ulquiorra?" Chad told them.

Ichigo nodded. "Maybe I'll give our hunch a try." he stood up and headed over to the scarled-haired girl.

"Hi Kamillah-chan." Ichigo smiled at her.

"Ne, good noon Ichigo-kun!" Kamillah's odd highpitched voice was full of glee.

"So, where are you headed off to?"

"Uh, I was on my way to give this bento to Ulqui-san."

"A bento?"

"Hm... yup! He told me he loves something oriental in taste so I made him some of these specialty rice balls."

"Ulquiorra asked you to make him a bento?"

"Not directly though, but I guess we can put it that way."

"Well, goodluck Kamillah-chan. I hope you enjoy your lunch with Ulquiorra."

"Haha. Thanks Ichigo-kun!" Kamillah bowed her head to Ichigo and merrily skipped away with the long sea of scarlet hair billowing behind her.

"Ulquiorra... asked for a bento? Now that's weird." Ichigo whispered to himself as he walked back to the group to relay what he just found out.

* * *

**(Ulquiorra's POV)**

After telling that woman that I wanted to start a new life, she seemed to have her distance away from me. The place where my hollow hole once resided felt utterly weird. It felt painful in a way but it never bled. It throbs everytime I see her happy without me by her side. That woman has cursed me to feel longing, to feel sadness and despair, that woman has cursed me to feel every emotion that Aizen-sama disregarded from me. There is this feeling of lust and selfishness that overwhelms me whenever I catch that woman looking my direction. I wanted to tear her smiles from her face and replace them blankly or impale her innocent eyes to make sure she never takes another sight of me.

Anyhow, I am satisfied about my life with Urahara, that odd man. He recently gave me a device which humans referred to as a 'celphone'. He told me things that I can do with that device. It actually looked like the remote of Aizen-sama which he uses to change the security camera in Las Noches. I have found out that this celphone could actually store captured images, which is similar to the function of my left eye and send various messages to other humans who possess the device as well. My stay in Urahara had been most efficient, by the way. Yoruichi, who was living with Urahara, was abruptly too noisy and she actually reminded me of the scarlet haired arrancar who I have known long before I was tasked to take the woman to Las Noches.

* * *

_2 years ago..._

_Ulquiorra had so far endured and survived another worthless meeting with Aizen and the other espadas in which they only talked about enhancing their physical structures. Since when and why would the espadas need to be conscious about their looks anyway? Grimmjow was far too inclined with the topic that he suggested certain lower arrancars should be trained to specialize in enhancing hairstyles for espadas. How pathetic it was for Ulquiorra to even stay in that conference hall just to hear the other espadas, especially Yammy, complain to Aizen about their body structure. Three hours of mental torture until Aizen finally found a cue to dismiss the espadas. What a relief it was for the fourth espada who hurriedly sonido-ed to his room, but his mind was in a complete clatter that he suddenly entered the wrong room when he made a wrong turn to the espada's quarters. Opening the door, he found himself in a well-lit room, surely it wasnt his._

_"Kyaaah! Schiffer-sama! Sumimasen, but what're you doing here?!" a red-haired female arrancar yelled on top of her lungs. Suddenly, Ulquiorra sonido-ed himself to cover the mouth of the female arrancar who was gasping for air._

_"Such rude actions to deliver infront a superior, hollow."_

_"Ne- don't call me hollow! I'm a numero atleast, numero segunda-septima; Kamillah Hische, sire."_

_"Segunda septima? Who is your superior, fraccion?"_

_"I don't have one yet, but I'm actually ineterested being a fraccion for Szayelapporo-sama!" Kamillah smiled. She had the same arrancar remains with Ulquiorra but hers did not cover her head half all the way through._

_"I shall take you as my fraccion from now on. However, I shall only call your service when utterly needed."_

_Kamillah's eyes grew wide. "Really Schiffer-sama?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Yey! Can I call you nii-san, Schiffer-sama?"_

_"I can allow that only if there are no other arrancars around."_

_"So what'd I do for you now?"_

_"Make an arrancar uniform, for a human girl in particular."_

* * *

That arrancar girl called me nii-san most of the time and she was also the arrancar behind the woman's meals. The arrancar would be the one telling me the human girl's 'feminine' needs and that scarled-haired arrancar would usually wash the woman's clothes. Kamillah. She has been too loyal to her superior and later, I learned how her death turned out to be. Her family was brutally murdered by a gang of her father's company rivals and she was raped and tied up with chains with a huge block of metal hanging from the chains. A long rope was tied around her neck and her body was pushed down to a cliff, strangling her. But before she was tortured and killed, her brother had promised to return from where he was working in a foreign place.

Kamillah had once told me that I reminded her of her brother, Sokona, so I allowed her to call me nii-san for some unknown reasons.

I remember when she reported to me that the human girl was having nightmares. Nightmares? I supposed that the woman had been tossing and turning in her sleep. I got up from where I was seated to proceed to her room but Kamillah told me not to wake the human up and just comfort her with a soft caress. That arrancar is ridiculous. But I still felt the urge to try what she had told me.

_A soft caress. _

The woman was indeeed tossing her head sideways, she was in absolute abyss of a nightmare. Her hair had grown a bit, an inch perhaps, she has lost a weight because of her defyance to eat yet she was still beautiful. What? Did I just think that she's- No. I did not. But watching her sleep disturbingly gave a chill in my spine to calm her. A soft caress. I lifted my hand from my pocket and touched her back. Her shoulders tensed a bit but that eventually stopped her tossing.

_A soft caress. Yes, now I know._

When the other espadas disappeared, their fraccions died as well. However, I did not ask for Kamillah to help me battle Ichigo Kurosaki. She did not know what happened so I assumed she still resides in Las Noches. When I was allowed to take the limiter bracelet off, I immidiately opened a garganta back to Las Noches and brought Kamillah to the human world as well. I needed her for a huge plan to be put to action.

* * *

"RRRIIIINNNGGG!"

It was the second bell which signifies the lunch break has ended, soon enough, every hallway in Karakura High was packed with teens chattering the latest gossips and stories. Among those walking students was Inoue Orihime. She really had been thinking about a lot lately. The appearance of the menos, Kamillah, and how she instinctively talked much with Ulquiorra. Are they planning to do something hollow-like? Orihime gave a soft sigh but eventually bumped into the chest of the pale tall arrancar.

"U-Ulquiorra-san." she nervously stated.

Ulquiorra did not reply but he slipped a small note into her hand and walked away. Orihime was stunned. They never talked for two months and now she just bumped into him in the hallway with him leaving her a piece of paper. It was then that she realized that the corridors were empty and the classes will start soon. Giving a soft sigh for the second time, she looked at the note but decided not to open it yet. She slipped it into her pocket and headed to her classroom.

"...the human body is a wonderful factory of different products. The lungs provide air as the brain provides the idea. Our cells... blah blah blah." the teacher has once again created a sea of words that Orihime could not absorb. It was two o'clock in the afternoon and the breeze turns the classroom into a sleepish atmosphere. The auburn-haired girl cannot keep her focus on the lessons, scribbling such spirals and horizontal jagged lines in her notebook. There was a buzzing sound of students chatting and not paying attention to the teacher, but a monotonous voice has surpassed the urge to drift into a sleep in her mind.

"The heart."

Ulquiorra clearly told the teacher. Orihime did not realize it was already recitation time and the teacher might have asked Ulquiorra a certain question. With all the words, why does it have to be the heart?

"The heart is the organ responsible for pumping the blood throughout the human body." Ulquiorra said. Orihime's eyes widened. "It is a muscle in your left chest, about the size of your fist. It has four chambers, the ventricles and the atriums, repectively." she shook her head. He was definetely talking about the heart. "Every human posses a heart, and it is what makes humans defy orders so much as well as reverse the true destiny of one being, may it be a normal human or a supernatural being." Now that really made Orihime flinch internally. The girls started whispering about what Ulquiorra said last.

"Er- Very well said, Mr. Schiffer. But would you mind telling the class what it is about your final statement?" the teacher asked. The whispering of the class became more louder than before.

Ulquiorra looked at the teacher with his evergreen eyes, then looked at Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu and Sado. His gaze turned to Kamillah who was smiling so wide, as if it was Gin Ichimaru's carbon copy smile. And lastly, he looked at Orihime, who was looking back at him with a confused face.

"Dang, what is he up to?" Ichigo whispered to Uryu. The quincy shook his head.

"I would mind actually and I think it is better if we keep it to ourselves." Ulquiorra replied to the teacher who froze in his stance as Ulquiorra sat down. Orihime seemed to be stunned as well.

"Well then, thank you anyway Mr. Schiffer, class who could tell me the function of the..." the teacher proceeded to his lessons. Ulquiorra shot his notebook open and began to write something. Orihime was really really really speechless at the moment. Why did Ulquiorra say that he wanted to keep something to themselves? And what the heck is he really referring to? Her thoughts were disturbed when a sudden heat in her pocket. She remembered that she slipped Ulquiorra's mysterious note in her pocket so she opened the note. Looking at it for a moment, she was again lost in confusion.

_"SWINGS. 4PM."_

She scratched her cheek as she tied to decipher what that cursived writing of Ulquiorra meant when he said swings. Then she smiled as she remembered the nearby playground. She smiled in triumph. She was finally going to get to talk to him.


	4. Rainy Resolution

**Chapter 4 - Rainy Resolution**

Her heartbeat raced, 3:44 PM; the clock read. Just a few more minutes and she'll be dashing to the playground to meet with the arrancar. 3:49... 3:55... damn. Why does the time move so slow when you want it to tick thrice its speed? RIIING! There it was, the final bell. Orihime got up and snatched her bag quickly. Then she felt something tug her free hand which was not holding her school bag. "Inoue-san."

"Oh, hi Kurosaki-kun! Sorry can't talk, I have to hurry." Orihime caught her hand back as she ran away.

"Wait, Inoue! Your umbrella!" Ichigo yelled.

It was a shady afternoon and nimbus came playing with the sky but Orihime didn't seem to notice that. She was busy pacing herself to the playground, their meeting place. When she finally reached the playground, her breathing was heavy and ragged from running. Her hopes turned down when she saw no traces of Ulquiorra there. Maybe it's still to early, she thought, so she headed straight to the swing to sit and wait. The sky began to cry, shedding rainfall, but for Orihime, it doesnt matter. She's going to wait. Maybe the sky's tears became rivers and Orihime finally found herself too drenched in the rain. He isnt comming, is he? Tears that threatened to shed came like stars in the sky. She was crying again. She felt so alone as the rain poured harder. Hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless. Then everything seemed to have flashed back on her...

_"You are to come with me woman. This is an order from Lord Aizen. I shall not entertain any of your questions... You have not eaten your meal woman; do not make me shave it down your throat... I believe I have made myself clear, I am not here to pamper you but I am here to make sure you are well nourished, according to Lord Aizen's orders... What is the heart you speak of? I see these as plain blasphemies from human beings... Your friends will not come and rescue you... As long as I'm here, you will never leave Hueco Mundo or Las Noches, not even your room, woman... You have saved me once, is that not enough damage you inflicted upon me, woman?... Woman, I wish to start a new life, you do not know me and I do not know you. Let me live in peace, woman. I am neither Ulquiorra Schiffer whom you knew in Las Noches nor the Ulquiorra whom you resurrected from the dead."_

Orihime clenched her hand hard enough and shut her eyes as rain continued to soak her. How could she let Ulquiorra do all of this to her? She was not the weak girl who needed to call her fairies just to save her. She does not need the Soul Society to save her from the clutches of Hueco Mundo and most of all, she does not Ulquiorra to tell her what to do. "Woman." that voice again. She heard it. When she opened her eyes, she saw a figure standing infront of her."Woman." that monotonous voice... she knew it was him.

"PAAAK!"

The rain trinkled on the bricked pavement a little more harder and that monotonous voice has stopped. Orihime's eyes were wide and as furious as the time she first had her palm meet his pale but soft face. His head was turned to the right, not because of the pain or impact but the mere fact, he let her do it. The time she had slapped Ulquiorra back in Hueco Mundo, his head turned to the side because he was surprised, but today, he gave in. Orihime's breathing were heavy and ragged, it was as if she had ran a thousand miles.

"I hate you." Orihime whispered in ragged voice.

Seeing how upset Orihime is, Ulquiorra, for the first time, held the wrist of girl infront of him softly in which she had not expected to be as gentle as holding a newborn bird in his palms. Slowly, he turned his head to make his green orbs meet her grey ones as he gently pushed her hand down to her sides.

"Do you hate me that much?" he asked. Orihime flinched but forced herself not to look at him. There was a long pause before Ulquiorra let go of her hand before asking again. "Do you hate me that much, Inoue Orihime?" This time, Orihime was surprised. Hearing her real name from Ulquiorra was already an ecstasy. How she wished many times before for him to say her name. She shook her head a little. She was not going to surrender to this arrancar. She was not going to surrender just because this espada said her name. All the dilemma in her head kept pounding and pounding her heart. And then, there it was again.

"Do you really hate me that much, Inoue Orihime? For you to avoid me all these times just because I told you that was to start a new life, you managed to distance yourself away from me."

"Then what do you want me to do Ulquiorra-san?" Orihime said softly, trying to give a smiling facade despite of the fact that the rain only hid her river of tears. "What role do you want me to play in your new life? You're fine in academics, has a future in sports, talented in arts and you're even a fine pair for Kamillah-chan." she bowed her head down low.

Orihime was a strong girl, but ths time, her knees weakened and her lips trembled. She managed to survive her days as a prisoner in Hueco Mundo and serve Aizen to awaken the Hogyoku stone he stole from Rukia. She was as strong as the shinigamis in the Soul Society because of her ability to reject anything, but when it comes to concealing emotions, Orihime accepted the truth that she was the weakest. Ulquiorra looked at the trembling Orihime. She was soaked wet with the rain. He took his jacket off and placed it over her head.

"You, Orihime. I wanted you to play your role as Inoue Orihime." he said softly. Orihime's trembling body lightened up as he pulled the coat over her head to somewhat sheild her from the pouring rain.

Ulquiorra picked her light body up and removed his limiter bracelet that Urahara gave him. "I'll take you home, woman. I don't want to get blamed by Urahara and Yoruichi if you get a fever." Secretly, Orihime smiled as they sonidoed across the empty sidewalks. 'He's back to his old self, I guess...' she told herself.

When they reached her apartment, she handed his coat back to him. "Thank you, Ulquiorra-san." she said as she bowed her head.

"Give me your phone number."

"What?"

"Give me your phone number. I want to know... if you would feel unwell or as you humans put it... if you would catch a cold. You stayed long under the rain." Ulquiorra said monotonously. But knowing Ulquiorra's monotonous voice, there was a hint of concern and bashfulness mixed in his voice. Orihime smiled and handed Ulquiorra her mobile phone showing her number. As soon as he got her number, he sonidoed away.

* * *

**(Orihime's POV)**

Even though I resolved some of the things that gave me headaches, I am still unsure about a lot of things. Ulquiorra told me to play the role of myself in his life but all I did before was to be a captive to be taken care of by him. Did he just asked me to be a burden once more? Speaking of burden, because I gave Ulquiorra my phone number, I've been receiving messages every 10 minutes. He kept asking if I was okay. Of course, I am very happy he opened his... uhm... heart for me once more. Maybe out of curousity, I asked Ulquiorra-san a certain question that I soon regretted asking.

"do u like someone in school?"

"do not be rdiculous, woman. why do you ask such question?"

"bcoz evry1 at school is curious about u & kamillah-chan"

"kamillah, you say? she is my fraccion. i taught you things about fraccions."

" O_o ooh. i nvr knew u had a fraccion, ulquiorra-san."

"you never asked, woman."

":P whtever ulquiorra-san."

"what is :P?"

"its a representation of me sticking my tongue out."

"very well then. ]:|"

"very funny ulquiorra-san."

"you are being sarcastic, woman. ]:|"

"lets sleep now, ulquiorra-san. :P 3 we have school tmrw."

"3 is a heart, am i right?"

"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

"woman, look outside your window."

"it's raining. what else would i see?"

"]:|"

I immidietly proceeded to the window. Ulquiorra was not the type who would play pranks. When I opened the window pane, I saw a dark figure above the electric post. It had a seemingly recognizable bat wings. Since when was the last time I saw his second release? The prisons in Soul Society maybe? I can see Ulquiorra's second release watching over me from that post. I looked at my phone and a new message appeared.

"I thought you were gong to sleep." he said. I pouted and looked at the figure in the rain closely. I chuckled in seeing the sight of an Ulquiorra in a second release holding a mobile phone. I waved at Ulquiorra and closed the window pane. Better get some sleep then.


End file.
